On Sunday night, a USC women’s basketball player says that she was subjected to racial slurs at Oregon State.
After their 69–63 loss player Minyon Moore posted a message on Twitter that she and other Black USC basketball team players had heard racial slurs as they left the game.
The Corvallis Gazette Times reported that Moore’s tweets stated:
According to the Corvallis Gazette-Times, who took screenshots of the posts, Moore wrote “Oregon state fans calling us n***** after the end of the game great sportsmanship.”
“Oregon state thinks they have the best fans. … no you have racist fans. Calling players “you black girls”, “black b****” and “you n******” is unacceptable. @Pac12Network @pac12 you need to address this @BeaverWBB.”
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While the tweets from USC player Minyon Moore have since been deleted, according to the New York Daily News, the schools have said that they are looking into the allegations.
The schools respond
Both Oregon State and USC have condemned the incident.
“There is no place at Oregon State University — nor do we believe in intercollegiate athletics — for racially derogatory actions or statements that are directed at student-athletes, coaches, officials or fans in attendance,” Oregon State spokesman Steve Clark said in a statement to The Associated Press.
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USC senior woman administrator Donna Heinel also spoke to the Associated Press, saying, “Both schools strongly agree that there is no place for such racially insensitive language in sports. And we appreciate Oregon State and the Pac-12’s immediate dedication to investigating this incident and their efforts to ensure that our collective values of respect and inclusion are upheld.”
Racist sports fans
The incident reported by USC players wasn’t the only time racism reared its ugly head in the world of sports on Sunday.
Four fans were ejected from the hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals for racist comments made toward Washington’s Devante Smith-Pelly, according to ESPN.
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During the third period, Smith-Pelly, who is one of only 30 Black players in the NHL, had been sent to the penalty box for fighting with Connor Murphy, a Chicago defenseman. While in the penalty box, Smith-Pelly could be seen getting upset. Some fans were reportedly chanting, “basketball, basketball, basketball” at the African-American player.
Last month Missouri women’s basketball players were allegedly the targets of racism from the South Carolina fans.
According to Athletic Director Jim Strek, the women were subjected to “the n-word” in addition to being spat upon.
“It wasn’t a great atmosphere. It was really kind of unhealthy,” Strek said in a radio interview on Tuesday. “We had, you know, players spit on, and the called ‘the n-word’ and things like that. I mean it was not a good environment.”